Bible Distribution Ruled Unconstitutional

The following is an excerpt from a Christian Post article by Lawrence Jones:

A federal judge has ruled a Missouri school district's policy permitting Bible distribution unconstitutional, but an attorney representing the district has vowed to appeal.

The case against the South Iron School District was filed two years ago by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of four sets of parents who are Christian. An appeals court ordered the district last August to temporarily halt the handout of Bibles to fifth graders by Gideons International, known for its widespread distribution of the Holy Book in hotels nationwide.

The school district in Annapolis then altered its open access policy, permitting Gideons and other groups – including the Red Cross, Missouri Water Patrol, and Girl Scouts – to give away Bibles or other literature before or after school or during lunch, but not in classrooms.

But U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry ruled Tuesday that both practices violated the Establishment Clause and granted a permanent injunction against any Bible distributors.

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Saudi Blogger Arrested

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Should There Be No Religious Test For Voters

The Lord Jesus Christ - - The First, True Libertarian; His Coming Most Important 'Political' Event in History

MEDIA ADVISORY, Dec. 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following statement has been issued by John Lofton, Recovering Republican; Editor, TheAmericanView.com; co-host of "The American View" radio show with Michael Anthony Peroutka, the Constitution Party's 2004 Presidential candidate. You may hear a radio show on this subject by clicking on http://www.theamericanview.com/index.php?id=965.

"And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him." -- Mark 12:17.

The religious significance of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is well known. But, what is not so well known and understood is that our Lord's birth is "the most important single political event in history," as Dr. R.J. Rushdoony says in his book "The Foundations Of Social Order: Studies In The Creeds And Councils Of The Early Church" (1968). He says the coming of God in the flesh "handed Statism its major defeat in man's history" because it established God as "the true sovereign and the true source of law."

Dr. Rushdoony notes: "Western liberty began when the claim of the State to be man's savior was denied. The State then, according to Scripture, was made the ministry of justice. But, wherever Christ ceases to be man's Savior, there liberty perishes as the State again asserts its messianic claims. Man is in trouble, and history is the record of his attempt to find salvation. Man needs a savior, and the question is simply one of choice: Christ or the State? No man can choose one without denying the other, and all attempts at compromise are a delusion.

"Thus, the key issue of our time is lordship or sovereignty: Who is the lord or sovereign, Christ or the State? Christmas reminds us once again of the birth of this world's only true Lord or Sovereign. We will either acknowledge Him or be judged by Him."

Amen!

Thus, all talk about "freedom" and "liberty," as if either may be obtained apart from the rule of King Jesus, is a lie. As God's Word tells us it is only when His Son sets us free that we are "free indeed" (John 8:36), free from the power of sin which is the Christian definition "freedom/liberty," a definition radically different from the modern definition which sees "freedom/liberty" as merely an absence of all restraints - which is license and not true liberty. See also II Corinthians 3:17 where God tells us that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

A footnote: All those candidates who say there should be no "religious test" by voters for public office are saying, in effect, that Jesus Christ is irrelevant to politics. They are engaging in Christ-denial. They are refusing to confess Christ before men which means that He will deny them before His Father (Matthew 10:32-33).

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China Hosts Controversy As Well As 2008 Olympic Games

Bible Controversy Reflects Grim Reality of Christian Persecution in China - - Christian Freedom International Urges Christians to Pray for China's Persecuted as 2008 Olympics Draw Near

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., Dec. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- As China prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games, a recent debate of whether athletes will have personal access to Bibles during their stay in Beijing sparked international controversy.

An announcement stated that the country intended to ban Bibles for security reasons, as well as all religious symbols in the Olympic Village -- a report that came on the heels of China's official pledge to encourage religion during the 2008 Games.

The news outraged human rights groups as well as U.S. politicians, including Senator Lindsey Graham, who contacted the Chinese ambassador for an explanation of the Bible ban, and House Representative Thaddeus McCotter, who introduced a resolution condemning the attack on Christianity.

But representatives from China have dismissed the report as an unfounded rumor, claiming that the government has not imposed any such rule and will guarantee religious freedom during the Olympic Games.

While the U.S. Olympic Committee has received confirmation that visiting athletes, journalists and tourists will in fact be allowed to bring Bibles into Beijing for personal use, the mere possibility of the ban's existence has been seen as yet another attempt by the Chinese government to suppress religious freedom within its borders, despite its repeated claims to the contrary.

Although the "underground" church in China has grown by the millions in recent years, the printing and distribution of Bibles in the communist nation remains severely restricted. Reports also indicate that more than 100 foreign Christians have recently been expelled from the country in a 90-day period -- one of the government's largest assaults on Christianity since 1954.

Christian Freedom International (CFI), a Michigan-based nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians, is encouraging all believers to pray for the persecuted church in China.

As the international community keeps a watchful eye on a country still defending itself against a long history of religious and human rights abuses, even as it prepares to welcome the world to the 2008 Olympic Games, CFI is challenging Christians everywhere to remember those in China who routinely suffer harassment, torture and even martyrdom for their faith.

Under the direction of CFI president Jim Jacobson, a former White House policy analyst, CFI has "smuggled" thousands of Bibles into China since 1996. But with less than half of all Chinese Christians currently owning a copy of the Bible, and as the country's "underground" church continues to grow in record numbers, the demand for Bibles remains overwhelming.

To learn more about CFI's Bible deliveries in China, or to learn more about Christian persecution worldwide, visit www.christianfreedom.com.

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First Amendment Used By Foreign Hate Groups

The United States is playing host to hundreds of foreign language internet sites used to spread hate messages outlawed in many countries.

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